ELMORE LEONARD, the prolific crime novelist whose louche characters, deadpan dialogue and immaculate prose style in novels like "Get Shorty," “Fifty-Two Pickup,” "Freaky Deaky" and "Glitz" established him as a modern master of American genre writing, died on Tuesday at his home in Bloomfield Township, Mich. He was 87. He would undoubtedly have found the NYT obit overwritten.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Lee Daniels' The Butler tops the chart with 25 million, riding a wave of buzz and churchgoers past estimates in the high teens. With an "A" Cinemascore, this one may be leggy, too. We're The Millers places with 17.8 million, though that may be more of a tribute to the lackluster performance of the action flicks -- Elysium shows with an underwhelming 13.6 13.6 and Kick-Ass 2 settles for a fourth-place debut statistically tying Elysium. KA2 fared badly with critics, but got a "B+" Cinemascore, so 13.6 million against a 28 million budget is likely not a disaster. Rounding out the Top 5 is Planes with a mere 13.1 million, as people reject the bait-and-switch from Disney (not Pixar).

THE SPECTACULAR NOW: A teen movie from the screenwriters of (500) Days of Summer? I'm there. This one is stripped of the plotting gimmick, leaving the naturalistic characterizations to carry the film. Indeed, while some compare this to the John Hughes canon, I think The Perks Of Being A Wallflower occupies that space. The Spectacular Now is closer to the Cameron Crowe of Say Anything or the original book of Fast Times At Ridgemont High -- less stylized and romanticized than Hughes (or the latter-day Crowe, for that matter). Plus, Miles Teller has a certain John Cusack meets Jonah Hill quality about him, neatly anchored here by the more reserved performance of Shailene Woodley (The Descendants). A fine film worthy of many more screens than the 50 or so it's on now.

EGYPT: After torching a Franciscan school, Islamists paraded three nuns on the streets like "prisoners of war" before a Muslim woman offered them refuge. In the four days since security forces cleared two sit-in camps by supporters of Egypt's ousted president, Islamists have attacked dozens of Coptic churches along with homes and businesses owned by the Christian minority.

with ELVIS PRESLEY! The King died 36 years ago last night, but remains a global pop phenomenon, so it's worth a recap of highlights from his legendary career. For the 30th anniversary, Canada's Star-Phoenix, discussing ten important parts of Elvis history worth reliving, noted: "His was a sequined coat of many colours: '50s Greaser Elvis. Military Elvis. Hollywood Elvis. Aloha from Hawaii Elvis. Vegas Elvis. And, ultimately, Dead Fat Elvis." The BBC had friend and aide Sonny West recall life with The King.

GREETINGS FROM GRACELAND: It must be said, however, that Elvis Presley Enterprises did not have a good handle on the King's affairs in the years immediately following his death. Chicago radio personalities Steve Dahl and Garry Meier won a local emmy for their 1981 comedic look at what was then a very seedy exploitation of Elvis in Memphis. (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7.)

CUTOUT BIN: From Bad Brains to the Beatles, from Seu Jorge to Rick Astley, from Jimi Hendrix to the Jesus & Mary Chain, plus Sly & the Family Stone, The Smiths, Republica, T. Rex and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases are: Kick-Ass 2, which is currently scoring 27 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; Lee Daniels' The Butler, currently scoring 73 percent; Paranoia, coming in at 04 percent; and Jobs, the biopic scoring 23 percent.

KATE BOSWORTH is getting married to director Michael Polish in a "country- style wedding" at the end of the month.

LEBANON: A car bomb struck a complex used by Hezbollah in a Beirut suburb, killing at least 20 people and injuring over 200 more. Shortly after the blast, a video was released by a previously unknown Syrian Sunni group, the Aisha Umm-al Mouemeneen, claiming the attack and warning Hezbollah.